my potential first Porsche: Cayenne

I've owned Porsches for over 30 years. I have no immediate experience with the Cayenne; however, since their initial introduction, I gather that "deals" are to be had, which will vary with the dealer's inventory and need to sell some units to meet their monthly quotas.

As far as quality, Porsche has tended to be on the "bleeding edge" of technical innovations and as a small volume manufacturer, we customers have often done their final "road testing", with some mixed results. In recent years, their problems have been less troublesome and like all cars, the reliability has been improved remarkably. The newer cars are good everyday drivers.

My sister has one of the Mercedes SUV's and the Porsche certainly out handles that beast by a mile. However, either one will be good in a Chicago winter. Lived there once...and I shoved enough snow for a lifetime.

We have a 2002 Carrera, 2001 Acura MDX and 2003 Civic Si. We got a Cayenne S loaner for a couple of days when the Carrera went in for service and rear tires.

The Cayenne's road handling is superb for an SUV. The BMW X series was the yardstick Porsche used in developing the handling characteristics. Haven't driven a 6 cylinder, but the Cayenne S certainly had adequate power (for an SUV). Performance figures I've read for the 6 cylinder put it on the slower end of the 0 - 60 scale for upper-end SUVs. Based on living with some of the options you mention on our Carrera, we'd recommend the upgraded headlights, Bose sound system and heated seats. We have the garage door transmitter built in on the Acura and it's handy, but using a regular opener in the Carrera is no bother. We found the Cayenne S seats very comfortable and if we were buying one we'd stay with the standard seat and get it heated.

Another option might be to look at the VW Toureg, their version of the Cayenne.

If you opt for any used Porsche, get a really thorough pre-purchase inspection by a dealer or other reputable source.

I'm with Jim on this - I'd get a top-end Toureg with air suspension rather than the low-end Cayenne. Then again, I'd wait awhile and see how the Cayenne's are down the road, rather than jumping in now. How long after the Boxster's released did folks learn about the leaky engines? Emanuel

And I concur with Emanuel on the air suspension - when they gave me the loaner Cayenne (standard suspension) they told me the air suspension was the way to go.......

I drove the VW....I don't care for the interior as much, and I actually prefer the Porsche exterior now... The main reason I like the Cayenne is the handling, which the VW certainly doesn't have... I wouldn't be considering an SUV if it wasn't for how well the Cayenne handles...I'm an aggressive driver, and a sporty sedan fits my driving style better; however, most sporty sedans I can afford are small on space, both in the backseat and trunk. I certainly don't want to pay for the air suspension, due to the high initial cost, the higher potential for future suspension repair cost, and the fact that I just don't need it. I rarely go offroad, if ever... Two of the salesmen (one sold Porsche, one sold Mercedes) at the dealership who owned Cayennes said they both skipped out on the air suspension as well, and suggested I skip it as well, if I wasn't a big off-roader... The Cayenne mainly appeals to me because of the driving enjoyment combined with the practicality of an SUV (AWD for Chicago winters, plus I regularly have 4-5 people in my car, and I will no longer have to borrow my father's Sequoia to haul larger items)

Randy

I bought a Cayenne S in Nov 2003 -- It is a wonderful vehicle. A friend liked my Cayenne so much that he bought a Toureg. For $20K less, he got air suspension, less horsepower, less handling, and, in my opinion, less exterior and interior styling. No doubt, the Toureg is a nice vehicle, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I really like the Cayenne S. There are some features I miss in my particular Cayenne -- Automatic garage door openers and a built-in cellular telephone. I understand the garage door opener is an option, and I recently read that Porsche has a new kit for integrated cellular telephones.

The ride, the feel, the handling, the acceleration, make the Cayenne a pleasure to drive. I so much would rather have it than any other SUV on the market. I found these accelerations specs:

Cayenne Turbo 5.0 - 5.6 sec Cayenne S 5.6 - 7.2 sec Cayenne V6 9 sec

Toureg V8 7.6 sec Toureg V6 9 sec

Sounds like your next major decision is which color.

The local dealer knows I want an "S", but can only afford a V6. I told him I'd rather wait for a used "S"... He called me today, to tell me about a customer of his who wants to trade in their 2004 silver/gray S, with Navi, with

30,000 miles on it, for a Turbo. (The owner replaced his 911 with a 911 Turbo last fall, and is hungry for the Cayenne Turbo now) The owner bought the "S" last fall, and because he is afraid of flying, has put 30K miles on the "S" already. The trade is supposed to happen within the next month, so I have yet to see the "S" in question, but the dealer told me he's making enough dough on the sale of the Turbo that he'll sell me the "S" for $45,000, or $46,500 with the extended warranty. What do you all think? If the car is in good shape, is it a good deal? What things can I be expecting to need to repair/replace already? Tires? Brakes? Is there a 30K mile service? Help!

Randy

45k for a used S sounds about right, give or take. You should also ask if all of the recall fixes have been performed on his '04, or if they will be before you get it. To get a more accurate answer on price, you should also post your question on the Cayenne forum on rennlist (free to sign up):

Randy S wrote:

45k for a used S sounds about right, give or take. You should also ask if all of the recall fixes have been performed on his '04, or if they will be before you get it. To get a more accurate answer on price, you should also post your question on the Cayenne forum on rennlist (free to sign up):

Randy S wrote:

in addition, i would check out the availability of a left over brand new '04 touareg...there is still a pretty long list of the V-8's in dealers' inventory and the ones that were [are] leftover were generally the most fully loaded ones because they were the most expensive......or for an even better value...look for a used 8...the touareg is 98% same vehicle.....with the many bucks saved, you could upgrade the touareg with some of the performance stuff found in "excellence" and have a real unique vehicle....of course, there is nothing like a porsche experience. go for which ever makes you happy!

regards

in addition, i would check out the availability of a left over brand new '04 touareg...there is still a pretty long list of the V-8's in dealers' inventory and the ones that were [are] leftover were generally the most fully loaded ones because they were the most expensive......or for an even better value...look for a used 8...the touareg is 98% same vehicle.....with the many bucks saved, you could upgrade the touareg with some of the performance stuff found in "excellence" and have a real unique vehicle....of course, there is nothing like a porsche experience. go for which ever makes you happy!

regards

in addition, i would check out the availability of a left over brand new '04 touareg...there is still a pretty long list of the V-8's in dealers' inventory and the ones that were [are] leftover were generally the most fully loaded ones because they were the most expensive......or for an even better value...look for a used 8...the touareg is 98% same vehicle.....with the many bucks saved, you could upgrade the touareg with some of the performance stuff found in "excellence" and have a real unique vehicle....of course, there is nothing like a porsche experience. go for which ever makes you happy!

regards

We just bought a "leftover" 04 V8. Sticker was around $47k. We got a real good lease deal, but we'd already bought one car from that dealer so it may have been a "return business" deal they wouldn;t have given otherwise. They're not doing much to discount the V8s, and when we bought 3 weeks ago, ours was one of only two 2004s left on the lot, neither was fully loaded and we weren't seeing much more inventory elsewhere. We were offered some slightly better deals on the V6 but nobody should get the V6, it just doesn't have the balls for a 5,300

• pound vehicle. Also the Cayenne has the 4.5 litre V8, as opposed to the Audi sourced 4.2 in our Touraeg. It works really well (0-60 in 7.4 seconds) thanks in large part to the well geard 6-speed tranny, but we could certainly notice the power difference when we test drove the Cayenne S. My father and I preferred the power and suspension tuning of the Cayenne, but my mother (who we got the car for) disliked the Cayenne's interior and we grabbed a Touraeg instead. Nonetheless, GREAT vehicle and we love it, still rides and handles REALLY well, has great power and is actually useable off-road. Steve Grauman

any vw dealer can "find" an '04 leftover for you....i know there are still plenty of them around. regards

None of the dealers we called in Southern California (among them is one of the biggest in the country) had more than 3 04s still on the lot. Most of them still had at least 1 floating around but there were actually more V6s than V8s. None of the dealers were very keen on bringing one in from outside, it's just not a great business proposal for them. They'd rather make you a slightly better deal on an 05' than spend time and money bringing in an 04' they they'll need to discount more heaviily to sell. Your best bet is to find a leftover you like that's still sitting on someone's lot, they'll want it gone. My dealer let a $41,000 W8 Passat go for $36,000 because it had sat for so long. Steve Grauman

i suggest you go buy a new 05 S

had mine for a week paid $52900...

what a wonderful car!!